Sunday, June 13, 2010

The clash between the USA and England was much anticipated as a win for the latter. Leading 1-0, the Brits were confident of carrying the day and winning over the USA. But that was not to be, thanks to the “Green Blunder” that helped the USA to score an equalizer and end the match in a draw, much to the dismay of the Brits.

So what is this Green Blunder? Well, in the 40th minute of the match, a seemingly harmless 25-meter left-foot shot from the USA’s Clint Dempsey landed straight into the right glove of the England’s goal keeper Robert Green. Everyone thought that Green would tackle such an easy coming. But he couldn’t and instead the ball bounced off his right glove and went straight into the goalpost. The USA squad could not believe to have scored the equalizer so easily, while the Brits could not believe that Green would blunder that cost them a drawn match rather than a win. Many recall a similar blunder by Scott Carson against Croatia which denied England a place at the 2008 European Championship.